The orientation of land is good for breezes, it is made up of 2 pieces this the first at 150tw (600m2), the second 100tw (400m2) joins directly onto it.

The land was long and narrow about 11m at the least widest part but runs for about 80 m in length. This is before the land fil.

Then after, a retaining wall needed to be built as the land ran along a government drainage area, this was paid for by the seller, as was a well, deep water pump, and soil the total cost of this tot he seller was half the price of the land, dont ask!

Ok, so after a bad time in chiangmai looking for adequate houses of wood, we decided to go to phrae and we came across this modest beauty, the maina ppeal was split floors with a lower level walkway and higher bedroom elevation, plus it was like a tardis and second the teak was immaculate and well cut.

Land filled one side allowed the workers to fulfil the retaining wall without the threat of an early grave, or soil shower.

Looking to the road end, from the raised land plot 1, concrete base is poured to which 2 sides of brick are brougt upto level. Rebar is then added for the uprights and we get ready for the pour.

Detail shot of the retaining wall, this will have a support to the upright to make sure it doesnt fall down under stress and this is concreted into the ground also.

A small pic of the finished work all done with pipes in for top water dispersal and now we fill the land.

As I've pretty much no experience in this field, although I did assist in knocking an interior wall down once after which we had to carry it outside down 3 flights of stairs using buckets which if that qualifies could the moderator please scratch me up some points, this retaining wall looks to me in itself like quite a feat of engineering! Plus the house from which you've derived your wood looks fantastic. I'd have almost sooner just moved in there and put the kettle on! How long before your build did you source this wood/house and did you leave it standing until you were ready for your own build or dismantle and put it into storage somewhere.

payebacs wrote:As I've pretty much no experience in this field, although I did assist in knocking an interior wall down once after which we had to carry it outside down 3 flights of stairs using buckets which if that qualifies could the moderator please scratch me up some points, this retaining wall looks to me in itself like quite a feat of engineering! Plus the house from which you've derived your wood looks fantastic. I'd have almost sooner just moved in there and put the kettle on! How long before your build did you source this wood/house and did you leave it standing until you were ready for your own build or dismantle and put it into storage somewhere.

Hi, the work is carried as per Thai engineering standards, the wall was going against a government drain so it need to be right. I didnt pay so i had no complaints.In regards to the house, there are a few around in wood but none inside like this and some reputable sellers in phrae, this house cost 220,000 badt, which is reasonably expensive as it had no posts but inside was just amazing. we managed to get the original posts for an extra 20,000 11 in total. This is mostly all teak very old and was worth the buy, although now i would just buy from a wood yard, which is what weve done for the extension.I hope this thread gives you insights into wood construction.

ok so the inside was the attraction although in darkness this does not show that well, most importantly the wood was free from damage in 95%+ of the wood, i mean immaculate. Split level and had a good feel unlike others we had seen that day.

here we have the inside it was hard to capture the internsl spaces but this was a bedroom on the raised level.

now we werent going to build the house exactly the same because tge roof was a complicated future leak nightmare, so with an architect junior i designed the house to the land. The land was raised on plot 1 (150tw) but not plot 2 (100tw). This meant we had a nice split level to the land and so came about this initial idea.

which I think is of great value especially if building on rented land because should the lease expire the house can be sold or moved... one does though first need to buy all of that wood to begin with which wasn't cheap and dismatling and rebuilding would have it's costs too so, for myself this is, keen on a cheap build leaving a concrete block house on a previously rented spot writing it off and building the same again on another may prove actually more cost effective 'on my budget'. That said I could still perhaps afford a wooden one if I found one small enough and then rebuilt it all just as is. Nice photos and intreguing to wonder what all might have happened in that house before you found it, over the years. Very nice looking wood indeed.

which I think is of great value especially if building on rented land because should the lease expire the house can be sold or moved... one does though first need to buy all of that wood to begin with which wasn't cheap and dismatling and rebuilding would have it's costs too so, for myself this is, keen on a cheap build leaving a concrete block house on a previously rented spot writing it off and building the same again on another may prove actually more cost effective 'on my budget'. That said I could still perhaps afford a wooden one if I found one small enough and then rebuilt it all just as is. Nice photos and intreguing to wonder what all might have happened in that house before you found it, over the years. Very nice looking wood indeed.

Hi, are you looking for wood? I know of many places in and around chiangmai, obviousky you need to have papers in order if you want to cross provincial lines. But maybe you would be interested in rice barns? Similar in size to treehouses but a downstairs. 10 posts can be a decent size and start from about 120,000 for teak including full posts and good wood on 90% of the building. Knock down and transport is about 20,000.Alternativel yu can buy wood in house form, ie a house that has been knocked down already, normally you need to buy posts but these range from 200,000 up all teak hig quality wood. The last option is you buy from various places the wood you need from a plan, this is probably the best and cheapest way but needs time to look around. Most importantly is a good builder, not that expensive, and far better than concrete on the eyes.If you have plans i could give you a rough estimate as to what i paid per sok(50 cm ) length. If i did it again i could probably have saved at least 1/3 to a half of the price using examples from above better. Hope this helps, by the way there are some great tree house book around in b2s, i own most of them so if your ever in chiangmai come and take a look.

CONSTRUCTION started, posts are marked as to the plan using string lines and bag of chalk. Centres are marked ready for the the digger to to what it does best.

When digging and there is only one way back out of the land, dont try and be clever and dig all around you, to finish, oh no too late.

Some ones dog finds it amusing.

Holes dug, dogs gone home builders look busy.

Here you can see the hole 1.2 m deep, with rebar, dont know the size, cant sound impressive.

The land is filled back in by hand leaving raised area for the concrete slab of the posts sticking out.

To finish off the posts the extension posts are dug out and poured, this is about 2 m lower then on top, they will support the raised slab that will jut out and create a nice level out to the back garden.

So from posts of concrete to wood frame, how did we get here, well by building like troopers. Thats how.

Frame is built, some posts are not quite high enough so will get a tom cruise lift to the cross beam. Joists have already started to be fitted most 2x4 some 3x3 thick. All wood currently is from the old house, although some posts at the front are sourced from Samkamphaeng. The majority of all wood is teak with exception to the posts and floor boards which are red wood.

Joists are going in, the house has different levels where the main rooms are raised from the walkway. This can be seen by the double height cross beam.

Concrete is being connected for the first steps upto the house, the steps changed a number of time having many configurations and roof, we ended up going for a double run of steps, auspiciously with a total of odd steps needed. This would lead to 2 seating areas before reaching the front door.

Here with the sun shining the finished concrete and a few of the posts on show, makes the journey an exciting one for sure.

lazylanna wrote:If you have plans i could give you a rough estimate....... if your ever in chiangmai come and take a look.

Wow thanks for the info and the kind offers lazy. Unfortunately I'm still in the dreaming phase of my build (!) Will be most likely starting with a trial build for my girlfriend to the tune of 40 - 50K baht all in! I'm a good way off from moving to thailand permanently but am loving the scope and variety of options that to one's door this website brings amongst which is your already sterling contribution. How you got those poles up there I can't imagine! Thanks!

lazylanna wrote:If you have plans i could give you a rough estimate....... if your ever in chiangmai come and take a look.

Wow thanks for the info and the kind offers lazy. Unfortunately I'm still in the dreaming phase of my build (!) Will be most likely starting with a trial build for my girlfriend to the tune of 40 - 50K baht all in! I'm a good way off from moving to thailand permanently but am loving the scope and variety of options that to one's door this website brings amongst which is your already sterling contribution. How you got those poles up there I can't imagine! Thanks!

Not a problem, i hope you like the thread as it continues, i will try to give as much detail as possible to any questions you have. The crane was hired and then used to lift posts into place, we didnt actually see the posts go up first time but had the builder take pictues of the ceremony. We will however be there for the extension posts going up, 11 in total and hopefully some pics to show the process. Keep watching this space.

Its given me an idea might flog the mum in laws old house its shiplap the board are horizontal rather than vertical but it is in good nick although about half a dozen floor joists are in trouble they were made with a different wood to the floors/walls roof which are all perfect when they moved the house and relocated it further back on the plot they cut the legs and replaced them with concrete to much noise transmission for me to want to live in it especially in the village

my comments may be wrong but never deliberatelyIf it aint broke, dont fix it